Recently I was having some technical problems with a hosting package and the tech asked if I had Skype so we could work through it. I’ve used Skype before but his installation was so pimped out I was so totally blown away, I had to share it.
The first thing you are going to need is to download Skype, if you’ve never done VOIP or P2P VOIP check out this primer. Once you’ve got it installed you can call and get voice calls from other Skype users. The next thing you’re going to want to do is purchase so Skype Out credits. Skype out allows you to dial landlines, cell phones, or any other conventional telephone number from your computer. Of course because calling is a two way street you’re going to want Skype In too. Skype in allows people to call a telephone number which connects to your Skype account. So your Mom, Aunt Sally or anybody else can call you and you never have to move your fat lazy ass out of seat to answer the call, a mouse potato’s dream come true. Now I’m not a big cell phone user, in fact I have somewhere in the neighborhood of 7000 unused rollover minutes, so when I’m home I just set my cell phone to forward into my Skype In number.
Now those steps alone would woo most people, but when we’re talking about pimping something we’re talking about kicking it way up, and doing it wretched excess, so let’s get busy. Let’s talk about webcams, chances are you’ve seen them before and they sucked. The techguy wouldn’t tell me what model his camera was, but buddy picked up a Logitech 5000 and it totally rocks! The video is really decent quality with very little skipping and jumping. I’m a laptop guy so I’ve got my eye on the quickcam notebook pro. If you’ve never tried video conferencing it’s cool, and when you use Skype the video appears in the little Skype chat window, way cool. They come with some earbud/microphone combos, but they are pretty lame. Let’s face it even though we all made fun of Lobot ( the guy who worked for Lando Calrissian in Empire Strikes Back with the funny headset) at one point or another, secretly deep down, no really deep down we all wanted to have that. It’s OK it’s a guilty pleasure, so give in to to your inner geek and get a decent headset.
Now we’re going to smack it out of the park with this one, have you ever tried to explain something to someone on the phone and wished you could see their screen or show them your screen? Well with the Skype plugin Unyte you can share applications through Skype. The person starting the call decides what applications to share, and if they want to have shared controls or only one way controls. It’s totally amazing when it’s working. So when you pull it all together you get cheap VOIP calling, video conferencing and shared screen browsing. Technical tip both parties should use the same browser and have it up and running before trying to “unyte”.
Disclaimer: None of the links above are affiliate links, and as of this writing I am in no way affiliated with Logitech or Skype. No compensation, occurred to influence this blog posting (although if Logitech wants to send me some free stuff that would be sweet). For more information please see my advertising policy.
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